Time Lapse

I recently screened Time Lapse and was pleasantly surprised by many aspects, including performance, direction, cinematography, and overall story. The wonderful performances of the three lead characters, Callie, Finn, and Jasper kept me invested in the story from beginning to end. Without giving away any of the story, witnessing both the slow and sudden transformations of each character were both entertaining and jarring as a viewer. In addition to the realistic portrayals on screen, I found the look and feel of the film to be particularly noteworthy. The director, and team, did a fine job in creating both tension and apprehension throughout the film by way of his shot selections as well as his set, sound, and art design choices; each which lent to the steady decline of the characters and their spiraling environment. Furthermore, the cinematography fantastically added to the suspenseful pace and mood in which the story unfolds by realistically portraying a normal everyday world made up of friendship and love that quickly transforms into one made up of antagonism, manipulation, and greed. Time Lapse is 104 minutes of suspenseful and thrilling entertainment. It is also a film you'll want to watch again. I know I will!

Everything that's important to making a good movie is dreadful in this movie except....the premise.....which I immediately exclaimed to my wife "Hey, this looks like a Twilight Zone episode". The premise is a fun one and in the hands of a skillful director and scriptwriter, it would be a treat (a camera that takes pictures of the future). Unfortunately, the dialog is horribly stilted and unnatural, leading to terribly wooden performances by the actors. The sets were typically low budget, but frightfully uninspired and the cinematography was so mediocre that it must have been done by a photog student. Sadly, I must add that all of the above is not the Worst part about this narcolepsy trigger. The worst part is the pitiful excuse for an ending which gives the audience exactly no payoff for the agony they've just gone through. My wife started to turn it off a half dozen times, but I insisted we soldier through in the hopes of something uplifting or inspirational or fun or funny or anything good. But that just wasn't to be. In short, for each important movie criteria: poor, poor, poor and poor. If you'd like a fun romp with a similar premise, try Primer (2004), IMDb 7 with 55k votes.

I saw Time Lapse at a film festival in Europe and I must say I was quite impressed. It was by far one of the best movies of the official selection. I don't want to repeat what other reviewers have already written, but I agree that the script, the cinematography, the acting (especially Danielle Panabaker, very convincing as not-so-innocent Callie) were all excellent. In fact way beyond what you'd usually expect these days from indie movies in genre festivals. For me, the fact that Time Lapse was a genre, time-travel movie was a plus because these movies, when they are well executed, can really have a lasting impact on their audience (think about Primer or Los cronocrímenes). But while Time Lapse is one of the best movies in its genre (better than Primer in my opinion, because less circumvoluted), it is also a deep reflection on both dark and sublime human desires and emotions: greed, lust, jealousy, friendship, love, art. In this sense the time-travel device (an awesome steam punk camera) used by the protagonists to see the future becomes a window into their souls. I warmly recommend Time Lapse. See it. You won't be disappointed.

I was lucky enough to catch a screening of Time Lapse recently, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It really feels like you are going on this adventure with the characters. Each of the three main characters were played well. The writing was really well done, and I particularly enjoyed the character of Jasper. The whole movie felt more and more claustrophobic as it progressed, and the ending was just flawless. Time Lapse was definitely one of the most intense films I've watched recently and I found myself both eager to know the resolution and wanting the movie not to end. I highly recommend watching this when you get the chance, I can't wait to see it again.

I caught this film at the Seattle International Film Festival a couple weeks back. Film makers, as well as the cast were there, answered questions, pleasant experience over all. So here it is... We got 3 close friends, various character types, all sharing an apartment together. One of which is the property manager. Things happen regarding one of their tenants, provoking concern, and leading the manager to go check on this individual. Upon doing so, a massive contraption is discovered in this tenants apartment, radiating an ominous green light, with photos of the three main characters tacked about the wall. Upon brief research, they soon learn this to be a camera that takes pictures 24 hours in advance. Oh, and the camera is pointed directly at their living room. And with it being so massive and complex, they can't exactly bring it where ever they want. So it's in this living room, where they leave clues for their past selves. Obviously (like most would), they use this invention for person gain. One of the three has more of a selfish intent, while the other two sort of superficially resist for a brief moment. It's from there that this close-quarters-adventure begins. Things get out of hand, characters change, we get a few laughs, jumps and an unforeseen reveal in the third act (you probably won't see it coming). I personally thought the film to be brief, clean cut, tightly written and straight to the point. It's also in my opinion, highly marketable. The direction was concise, production was smart, and casting was thoughtful. Nothing about it felt pretentious in the least, and I'm thankful for that. I got a few minor nit picks, but I'm a critical prick, so don't be surprised. What makes the film good, far out weighs any minor short comings. See it.

The concept of the movie is fantastic - "Three friends discover a mysterious machine that takes pictures 24hrs into the future and conspire to use it for personal gain". The movie rarely leaves one of the 2 rooms its shot in and fails to deliver on anything promised. Its basically just a dialog between 3 not so great actors. Doubtful anyone would find it interesting so don't waste your time trying to watch it. If you must try, make sure you have some coffee on hand and some tooth picks to prop your eyes open with, its a real snoozer.

If you consider yourself an intellectual person then please please save yourself from this awfully brain numbing film. The director and writers have done an awful job as the film is so repetitive and no where near entertaining. This film is probably one of the worst films I've ever seen, they basically look at a photo and reenact it over and over and over and over again. the film is so predictable. I wouldn't even rate this film a 1/10! This film is definitely aimed at a specific audience, the type that tend to enjoy cheesy American dramas. The movie could of been good if they had changed it up a bit as they only used around 4 different locations which all where in the 2 houses, if you have a short attention span then you'll find this really hard to watch as it doesn't get you on the edge of your seat for the right reasons, it's gets you their because you want to leave the room out of pure exasperation.

Or maybe neither, depending on your view or perspective on the matter or characters that is. But you can't deny, that this movie (clue is in the title), is well thought of. You might not agree with all the twists and turns this takes, but it does so convincingly. Can you see a couple of things coming before our main characters spot them (no pun intended)? Of course you can. Still fun to watch though. Which all comes down to a neat direction (for a low budget movie that is) and the stellar cast, that really do their best to convey a really "far out" idea. If you like Science Fiction Thrillers, that do use their head a little bit, you could do worse (a lot worse)

I spent the first part of this film umming and ahing as to whether or not I was enjoying it, but towards the end I was totally gripped and at the end I absolutely loved it. The story and pacing of this film are practically perfect, making it a definite winner in my book, but any prospective viewers might benefit from being aware of a couple of things before they decide to watch. Firstly it looks kind of like a cheap made for TV movie. Some of the camera shots are creative and well thought out but the whole thing just oozes film-making on a budget, and some people might find that hard to get past. The style reminded me of the remake they did of The Outer Limits in the 90s, rather than a film from 2014. Also, much like the aforementioned series the incidental music is horribly generic and uninspired (but thankfully used pretty sparsely.) The acting is mediocre from the three leads. Some people will find this grating, so prepare yourself. They won't be winning any Academy Awards anytime soon for their performances, trust me. So why should you definitely watch this movie? Because despite the clunky dialogue and wooden acting the plot is entertaining, unfolds brilliantly and is executed just about as perfectly as a plot can be executed in a movie. It is a wonderfully self-contained story that builds to a satisfying denouement and keeps you guessing and totally gripped along the way. If you go into this movie expecting every aspect to be amazing, you're probably going to be disappointed. Instead bear in mind the criticisms above and trust that despite these weaknesses it is an uncommonly enjoyable watch and well worth an hour and forty minutes of your time.

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